Amazon Backs Texas Gas Plant That May Be Top US Climate Polluter
Original: Amazon backs power plant that may become top source of US climate pollution
Why This Matters
AI's surging power demand is accelerating off-grid gas plant adoption, intensifying environmental and regulatory scrutiny across the industry.
Amazon is funding a natural gas power plant in Pecos County, Texas, to supply an off-the-grid data center — a facility the New York Times reports could become the largest single source of climate pollution in the United States, raising environmental concerns amid the AI infrastructure boom.
Amazon confirmed it is investing in a natural gas-burning power plant in Pecos County, Texas, to power a large planned data center project. According to a New York Times report, the plant could become the largest single source of climate pollution in the United States. In a statement to Ars Technica, Amazon said it 'believes in paying the full costs of powering our operations,' adding the on-site generation is 'designed to transition to grid-connected service as interconnection' becomes available and will not raise electricity costs for Texas residents. The Texas project is reportedly Amazon's first major off-the-grid data center investment. Amazon did not address questions about environmental impacts from gas turbine use. The move follows similar off-the-grid power strategies by Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI. Public backlash has grown since xAI controversially powered its Colossus data center with gas turbines in spring 2025 — drawing an NAACP lawsuit in Mississippi — yet other AI firms have largely continued expanding off-grid gas power projects. Critics note that these plants produce pollutants linked to asthma, heart disease, lung cancer, and strokes, while the Trump administration supports fast-tracking approvals, sometimes bypassing standard permitting processes.